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Extraordinary circumstances are situations beyond the control of the airline. Strikes by airline staff are not considered an extraordinary circumstance, so you should receive compensation. See our guide on what to expect from your airline in the event of a strike. Although you are not entitled to financial compensation when there's an extraordinary circumstance, you are entitled to assistance when your flight is delayed.

Assistance includes meals, refreshments, accommodation and hotel transfers, depending on the length of your flight and delay. Key Information. Van der Lans v KLM. This is now one of the highest rulings on the issue of technical problems and is binding on all European courts. For example, if you're told you can't fly due to weather conditions, but other flights are departing you could challenge whether the adverse weather really was the genuine cause of the delay.

There may be some circumstances in which you can claim - for example, if your flight is delayed due to knock-on effects resulting from an extraordinary circumstance. For example, if on Wednesday morning there was drone disruption at the airport, delays that day would be classed as an extraordinary circumstance. But if you travelled on Thursday after the drone disruption took place, and your flight was delayed as a result of it, this would be seen as a knock-on effect and you could be entitled to a make claim.

For example, these could include if the flight delay or cancellation caused you to:. However, this can be quite a tricky legal argument. Legal for one-to-one advice. If you have an unresolved complaint about an airline, it is required to inform you about an alternative dispute resolution ADR scheme that you can use.

Please note the Civil Aviation Authority can only help you if the flight was cancelled or delayed within the UK, or was on a UK based airline. If your flight was cancelled or delayed outside the UK, you will need to complain to the airline regulator in the country the delay occurred in.

Regardless of whether you choose to use a CAA approved ADR scheme, you still have the right to take an airline to the small claims court if you feel it is unfairly refusing your compensation. But it's a good idea to seek legal advice before taking this step. If your flight is delayed you could be entitled to compensation or a refund, so make sure you know your flight delay compensation rights and are not left out of pocket.

Mechanical issues are, unfortunately, unforeseeable. Pilots always do a final check before the departure of the aircraft, but if they find anything wrong, they signal to the ground crew or maintenance station what the issue is.

The airline then needs to decide to either fix the problem if the delay is not too long, or replace the aircraft to ensure your safety. If a replacement aircraft cannot be found, then your flight might get canceled. Performing maintenance on the plane requires some time, and as a result, there will be a delay in the departure of the flight. On the other side, mechanical delays also affect the arrival schedules too. However, if the flight experiences a major mechanical problem in the air, it can be re-routed to another airport.

So, it will also take much more time for passengers to reach their final destination. Most of the time, the captain of the flight can inform the passengers who are on the flight that there may be some delay for the takeoff. It is due to the crew being instructed to wait for those who are coming from a different connecting flight.

Sometimes even the bags take a little longer time to get transferred from one plane to another. Ground authorities try their best to do their task on time, but sometimes they have to wait for more bags to get there from other flights. You are surely aware of the fact that a flight cannot depart in the absence of pilots and flight attendants.

So your flight can be delayed due to waiting for crew members arriving from another flight. Normally large hubs have crews on standby. So, when a particular pilot is not available due to any reason before the departure, a colleague will take his place to serve your flight. Flight Delay Causes. But if your plans are disrupted because of a technical or staffing issue, you might be owed something.

Start by punching in your flight details on the AirHelp website or mobile app. If you're eligible, the company will help you file a claim. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. Edit Story. Suzanne Rowan Kelleher Forbes Staff. I write about travel trends and news you can use.